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Bruce Crowther looks into noir's literary origins (often in the novels of the so-called 'hard-boiled' school typified by Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Cornell Woolrich), and at how the material translated to the screen, noting in particular influences from German expressionist films and the almost indispensable techniques of flashback and voice-over narration.  He also assesses the contribution made by the players - by actors such as Robert Mitchum, Dick Powell, Alan Ladd and John Garfield and actresses such as Barbara Stanwyck, Lizabeth Scott, Joan Crawford and Gloria Grahame, together with a roll-call of supporting players whose screen presence could lend almost any film the noir imprimatur. Noir was in its heyday from 1945 to 1955, a time when paranoia and disillusion, anxiety and violence could be said to have been part of the fabric of American, and particularly Hollywood, society, yet its impact and its influence are with us still - in films as diverse as The French Connection, Chinatown and Body Heat. This Book commemorates a special period in film-making and a unique combination of talent resulting in a spectrum of films that are as welcome today on their small-screen airings as they were when first shown in cinema.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49505448329489,"sku":"GOR001815490","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49620731134225,"sku":"GOR004400447","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0862874025.jpg?v=1751107687"},{"product_id":"charlton-heston-book-bruce-crowther-9780862872878","title":"Charlton Heston","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49517692387601,"sku":"GOR003444174","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49650044961041,"sku":"GOR004256716","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0862872871.jpg?v=1751330450"},{"product_id":"gene-krupa-book-bruce-crowther-9780711912939","title":"Gene Krupa","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49521724490001,"sku":"GOR004270673","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53257759064337,"sku":"GOR002264553","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0711912939.jpg?v=1750701409"},{"product_id":"burt-lancaster-book-bruce-crowther-9780709043492","title":"Burt Lancaster","description":"Bruce Crowther details Burt Lancaster's life; his childhood in New York, his first taste of showbusiness as an acrobat in vaudeville, the toughening experience of wartime service, the bit-parts on Broadway and his first screen appearance in \"The Killers\" which put him in the public eye.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49522155520273,"sku":"GOR002228038","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52698328760593,"sku":"GOR004043056","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/070904349X.jpg?v=1751041874"},{"product_id":"gene-krupa-book-bruce-crowther-9780946771370","title":"Gene Krupa","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49522449383697,"sku":"GOR004714590","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50286560870673,"sku":"GOR003564319","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0946771375.jpg?v=1751331741"},{"product_id":"mitchum-book-bruce-crowther-9780709045021","title":"Mitchum","description":"Traces the life and career of this public legend and obsessively private man: from his hobo life in the late 1930s to the superstar status of the 90s, from bit parts to leads. Special attention is given to some of his greatest films, including \"Farewell, My Lovely\" and \"Night of the Hunter.\"","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49534088937745,"sku":"GOR003082164","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49560901484817,"sku":"GOR002043442","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49602737864977,"sku":"GOR012223726","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51224677843217,"sku":"GOR002119397","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0709045026.jpg?v=1751262995"},{"product_id":"laurel-and-hardy-book-bruce-crowther-9780862873448","title":"Laurel and Hardy","description":"Charts the glittering career of the best-loved faces in the film world. With a foreword by Ernie Wise, this volume follows the laughter-making pair from their early days in Hal Roach's silent comedies through the transition to sound, to the Hollywood features of their later years. The book recounts, in words and pictures, the comic pairing of Laurel and Hardy - one a childlike innocent with a penchant for anarchy, the other a bossy incompetent - who arrived on the film scene late in the silent era, and transformed the popular comedy of the day. Their partnership first flowered in \"Putting Pants on Philip\" and went from strength to strength with \"Leave 'Em Laughing\", \"Big Business\" and the Academy award-winning \"The Music Box\". As characters, they complemented one another perfectly, and their partnership has gone down as one of the greatest in film history. The book contains behind-the-scenes stories, photographs, a filmography and select discography.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49561075712273,"sku":"GOR001423158","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49603574726929,"sku":"GOR002028064","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50840619516177,"sku":"GOR004340391","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0862873444.jpg?v=1750915807"},{"product_id":"not-in-my-lifetime-book-bruce-crowther-9781913898205","title":"Not in My Lifetime","description":"\u003cp\u003eA unique account providing the full story of the creation of possibly the largest campaign movement that the UK, if not the world has ever seen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Lancashire market town became the world's first Fair Trade Town when the people of Garstang made their self-declaration at a Public Meeting in April 2000. 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